Idi Amin, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea

 

The Last King of Scotland in full regalia

           a.k.a. The Butcher of Uganda

I was halfway through writing this article when I went out to water the garden. It must have been the malevolent spirit of Idi Amin that tripped me in the garden but I don't scare that easily. So, albeit a couple of weeks late, here are some thoughts that came to mind on the 50th anniversary of Idi Amin's mercifully brief but still very bloody caper on the world's stage.

August 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of one of the darker episodes of the last century: the rise and fall of Idi Amin. Some of you may have read Fr. Raymond de Souza's informative article on the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in August 1972 by then President Idi Amin (National Post, Sunday August 8, 2022 - https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-j-de-souza-50-years-after-idi-amin-expelled-uganda-asians-they-prosper-happily). Fr. de Souza gives a clear account of how approximately 50,000 Asian residents, many of whom had lived their entire lives in Uganda, were given 90 days to leave Uganda and start from scratch in other parts of the world.

Amin, who rose from the rank of a major to the Commander in Chief of the Uganda armed forces, used his military support to wrest power from President Milton Obote who fled to Tanzania. Idi Amin's reign (1971-1979) was marked by brutality, unrest and chaos. His expulsion of Asians in 1972 was an irrational move motivated by what he thought would make him a folk hero with the rank and file of the people as the properties of Asians would be up for grabs. Amin gave Asians 90 days to clear out of the country. What little cash or valuables they could carry on their persons had in most cases to be handed over at gunpoint to gangs of soldiers who searched every car headed to the airport or the road connections to Kenya and Tanzania. A friend of mine in his mid-fifties who held a senior post with an oil company, fled with his wife and two young children to Kenya, leaving behind their beautiful home and all their possessions. They were destitute on arrival in Kenya but were fortunate to be accepted as refugees by Canada. They faced hardships initially but were able to live the rest of their lives in relative comfort as dependents of their children.

For a while, the world was distracted by the latest antics of Idi Amin, the buffoon, the self-appointed President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Amin Dada, Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular). He even styled himself as the Last King of Scotland (a latter-day Bonnie Prince Idi Amin who  was going to liberate Scotland from the British just as he had done for Uganda). Whether the man was insane or not, he had an innate sense of survival which led him to kill even his own people and earn him the only title he truly earned, "The Butcher of Uganda."

In all, 5,655 Asian firms, companies, farms and plantations were reallocated mainly to military beneficiaries who had no technical skills or management experience. Factories like the massive Madhvani Sugar Factory ground to a halt, businesses went bankrupt, thousands became unemployed overnight and the economy of the once prosperous country all but collapsed. Amin's bloodthirsty seven years in power were marked by anarchy, brutality and  senseless killing. The very people who had hailed him as a liberator helped an invading force from Tanzania to oust Amin from power and it wasn't very long before Milton Obote was back for a second brief stint as President. Idi Amin spent the rest of his life in exile and died at the age of 77 or 78 on August 16. 2003 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Last King of Scotland  became a mere pathetic footnote of history.

Fate of the Expelled Asians

What happened to the roughly 50,000 Asians who were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin? The vast majority held British passports. It was not a good time to land in Britain as jobs were not readily available and tabloids and politicians like Enoch Powell, M.P. were quick to exploit the widespread public resentment of this sudden major influx of 30,000 immigrants. The British working class, however, once it became aware of what the Asians had suffered during the purge, became  more sympathetic and accepting of this tidal wave of immigrants. Canada accepted no less than 6,000, about 4,500 went to India and 2,500 to Malawi. Pakistan, West Germany and the U.S.A. took about 1,000 each.

As Fr. Raymond de Souza points out, wherever the refugees ended up, they did well. Not only were they not a drain on the public purse but they brought with them all kinds of skills, especially entrepreneurial skills that created new business opportunities and opened factories that created jobs. Asian immigrants have prospered in the countries that took them in and have contributed to their adopted countries in all fields of endeavor. Several of them who left Uganda with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, are now among the 50 richest persons in Britain. Interestingly, Yoweri Museveni, a military figure who played a role in ousting both Amin and Milton Obote, became President of Uganda in 1986. He recognized the devastating effect the expulsion of Asians had had on Uganda's economy and infrastructure. In the May 15, 1991 issue of India Today, Amrit Roy reported that 'in a remarkable U-turn in policy, a repentant Uganda is urging people of Indian origin it expelled nearly 20 years ago to return and rebuild a shattered economy."

Coincidentally, while I was writing this account, a friend sent me the story of Milton Carrasco (https://alumni.ucalgary.ca/programs/arch-awards/2022-arch-award/milton-carrasco), who arrived in Canada from Uganda in 1975 with only a few dollars in his pocket. He gained admission to the University of Calgary's Engineering faculty, completed his MEng92 and was able to spin his Master's thesis into a multinational company, Transoft Solutions Inc,  with offices in 11 countries. The University has chosen him as the 2012 recipient of its prestigious Arch Award that honors alumni "whose careers have made a positive and significant contribution to their community." Not bad going for a refugee who arrived with only a few dollars in his pocket, eh?

Ripple effect

What happened in Uganda had a ripple effect in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania. Thousands of Asians realized that what had happened to Asians in Uganda could quite easily  happen in other parts of Africa. I had applied for Kenya citizenship and Cybele and I had every intention of spending the rest of our lives in Kenya, a country that we loved. When we saw how one leader singlehandedly and irrationally expelled 50,000 Asians from Uganda, we knew that, if not for our own sakes at least for our daughter Lisa's sake, we had to leave Kenya and start anew elsewhere. In 1972, Cybele began the process of applying to emigrate to Canada thanks to Idi Amin...

Francis